Chilling footage shows Florida honors student lurking over mom’s bed moments before he allegedly stabbed her to death
Haunting images caught on a baby monitor show the 13-year-old Florida honors student accused of killing his sleeping mother looming over her bed moments before he allegedly plunged a knife into her — as his newborn sister slept in a crib steps away.
A black-and-white time-stamped images shared by the Miami-Dade District Attorney’s Office on Monday show Derek Rosa standing over his mother, Irina Garcia, while she slept in her bed on Oct. 12.
Just after 11 that night, Rosa is seen hunching over Garcia. About a half-hour later, he called 911 to report her murder.
In a chilling twist, the teen’s newborn half-sister sleeps in a crib right next to the bed while the mom sleeps, seemingly unaware of her son’s presence.
Prosecutors have yet to provide further detail on what they claim is happening in the photo.
Even more disturbing, another still-framed shot shows Garcia in her bed, with the lights on, cradling her 14-day-old baby at 10:23 the same evening.
Within an hour of the image’s time stamp, Garcia, 39, would allegedly be killed by her son.
Another image shows Rosa sticking his tongue out and making a sign with his hand, which appears to have bloodstains on it, in a selfie allegedly sent to a friend following the murder.
The DA’s office also shared an image of a pink-handled knife with what looks to be blood on it.
During an 18-minute call with the 911 operator on the night of the murder, Rosa had confessed to murdering his mother and sending a picture of the grisly aftermath to a friend — telling the dispatcher, “There’s blood all over the floor.”
The eighth-grade honor roll student also allegedly said, “I have the gun with me. I was going to shoot myself, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to. There’s a knife in my room, and there’s a gun in the living room.”
His half-sister was unharmed.
Rosa’s stepfather also lived in the apartment but was out of town for work at the time of the killing.
The teen pleaded not guilty to his mother’s murder last month and will stand trial as an adult.
His lawyers are pushing for their client to be moved to a juvenile detention facility instead of being behind bars at Metro West Detention Center, an adult jail.
On Friday, Judge Richard Hersch heard arguments over whether Rosa should be transferred to the juvenile detention center and wait for trial, NBC News reported.
The decision on his transfer was pushed back to allow the defense more time to make its argument.
Hersch will rule on Tuesday unless the defense presents witnesses to advocate his transfer.
Rosa is currently the youngest of 34 juveniles being held at the new juvenile section at Metro West, according to NBC News.
Prosecutors remain adamant that the teen should not be transferred to a juvenile facility.
His lawyers have yet to declare any mental illness defense.
Rosa’s defense attorneys examined the crime scene during a three-hour block on Thursday, according to NBC News.
The attorneys were joined by a forensic examiner and photographer at the Hialeah property.
During last month’s hearing, Rosa was oddly calm as he was charged with the heinous crime, despite family members of the alleged killer teen becoming emotional in the courtroom.
His father, Jose, was seen waving at his son, even blowing him a kiss, while his grandmother started crying as his lawyers took the not-guilty plea.
After the court hearing, his relatives disagreed with Rosa being charged as an adult — insisting that he was a “good boy.”
“Derek is a good boy. Affectionate, loving,” one relative said, according to WPLG.
“This is not like Derek. No one knows Derek like we know him. And this is not Derek, so you know.”
Jose Rosa previously called for his son to get a second chance despite the severity of the crime.
“I guess what we’re asking for is another opportunity — a second chance — to help him grow and become mature as a grown man to put this behind him,” the father said, according to the station.
